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Monetary Policy Strategy

Overview

This book by a leading authority on monetary policy offers a unique view of the subject from the perspectives of both scholar and practitioner. Frederic Mishkin is not only an academic expert in the field but also a high-level policymaker. He is especially well positioned to discuss the changes in the conduct of monetary policy in recent years, in particular the turn to inflation targeting. Monetary Policy Strategy describes his work over the last ten years, offering published papers, new introductory material, and a summing up, “Everything You Wanted to Know about Monetary Policy Strategy, But Were Afraid to Ask,” which reflects on what we have learned about monetary policy over the last thirty years. Mishkin blends theory, econometric evidence, and extensive case studies of monetary policy in advanced and emerging market and transition economies. Throughout, his focus is on these key areas: the importance of price stability and a nominal anchor; fiscal and financial preconditions for achieving price stability; central bank independence as an additional precondition; central bank accountability; the rationale for inflation targeting; the optimal inflation target; central bank transparency and communication; and the role of asset prices in monetary policy.Frederic S. Mishkin is Alfred Lerner Professor of Banking and Financial Institutions at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a past Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and after finishing this book was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He is the author of The Next Great Globalization: How Disadvantaged Nations Can Harness Their Financial Systems to Get Rich and other books.

About the Author

Frederic S. Mishkin is Alfred Lerner Professor of Banking and Financial Institutions at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a past Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and after finishing this book was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He is the author of The Next Great Globalization: How Disadvantaged Nations Can Harness Their Financial Systems to Get Rich and other books.

Endorsements

“The collection is enriched by excellent introductory and concluding chapters and provides a remarkably comprehensive, insightful and pragmatic discussion of virtually every topic on monetary policy strategy that central bankers regularly confront in practice and that students of central banking should appreciate learning more about. Personally, Monetary Policy Strategy was a really good read for a former central banker who has strong views on virtually all the topics covered.”
—Laurence Meyer, Macroeconomic Advisers

“Fredric Mishkin has been one of the principal contributors to advancing our understanding of monetary policy, at both the scientific and the practical level, for more than a quarter-century. These collected papers chart an intellectual trajectory that closely defines how core thinking in the field has evolved over this period. Going through them in order is a splendid tour of the field for anyone seeking either a review or an introduction. And having them collected in one volume, to consult as the need arises, is a boon for up-to-date specialists as well.”
—Benjamin M. Friedman, William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University

“In Monetary Policy Strategy, Frederic Mishkina prominent policymaker and respected academicpresents the conclusions of his decade-plus research on monetary policy in both advanced and emerging market countries. The research is empirical, careful, and balanced, and it leads him to support a pragmatic and flexible form of inflation targeting as the best type of monetary policy for both the United States and many other countries. This is the book to read if you want to understand where monetary policy is heading, and why.”
—Stanley Fischer, Governor, Bank of Israel

“No one is better equipped to offer insight on monetary policy strategy than Frederic Mishkin, who draws on his experience from distinguished careers in both academia and the Federal Reserve System. This collection of papers is essential reading for anyone wishing to become knowledgeable on the subject.”
—Mark Gertler, Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Economics, New York University

“This collection of recent articles by Frederic Mishkin is one of the best available introductions to current thinking about monetary policy. It distills an immense amount of practical wisdom, drawing upon a rare combination of theoretical insight and close observation of central banking around the world, and takes the reader into the heart of current controversies while remaining accessible to nonspecialists.”
—Michael Woodford , John Bates Clark Professor of Political Economy, Columbia University